Me, Myself, and I
by PhantasyPhan13
Summary: A collection of one-shots about Gru's heart-shattering past. Ever since the day Gru's father died, his whole life turned into an existence of sadness and pain. As soon as he was able to leave his mother, he created a new life for himself in New York City, where he met Dr. Nefario and the Minions. But he never knew then that three girls would change his life forever...
1. The Day I Lost My Family

**A/N: This is the first chapter in my collection of one-shots about Gru's past. Every year, Gru has the same heartbreaking dream on the anniversary of his father's death. But this year will be the year he finally has to tell his family about his heartbreaking past... (Note: For those of you who are very sensitive, you may wish to skim over the death of Gru's father at the beginning, since it is rather heart-wrenching.)**

* * *

The Day I Lost My Family

"Daddy!"

Little Gru rushed into his mustached father's open arms. He had been waiting for this moment for so long. It wasn't often that his father got to come home from his job as a spy for the army and spend time with his family.

"Felonius, my sweet leetle boy! How are you doing?" Robert Gru whispered as he wrapped his only son in a warm hug.

Gru furrowed his brow. "Ok. I tried to make a rocket and send it to ze moon, but it vent into a tree and blew up."

Robert laughed and ruffled his son's black hair affectionately. "Vell, ve all have setbacks in life, son. Don't vorry; you'll get to go to ze moon someday."

"Really?" Gru asked eagerly. He'd wanted to go to the moon ever since he'd watched the breathtaking landing a year ago in 1969, when he was nine years old. He had come up with various schemes to launch a rocket, but none of them really worked out, and his mother didn't seem to support her son's ambitions anyway. In fact, his father was the only one he felt he could really trust to listen to his dreams without crushing them to smithereens in seconds.

"Of course. If you put your mind to it, zen anything is possible. You just have to really vant it and zen you can get zere if you try very hard. And I have no doubt in my mind zat you_ vill_ try very hard and get to ze moon one day," Robert reassured him.

"ROBERT! Don't encourage him! I don't vant my son to get his dreams squished because of your silly 'he can do anything' speech!" Marlena shrieked from the inside of the kitchen.

Gru hung his head and looked at his feet, kicking at the dirt of the backyard in dismay. "Zat's ze whole problem right zere, Dad. Ven you're spying for ze Russian army away from home, nobody vill listen to me or my dreams. Mommy doesn't vant me to grow up vith a stupid idea in my head and vind up being one of zose crazy people living on ze street because zeir dreams vere crushed as a kid. Do….do you think I vill ever grow up to be one of zose people?"

"No, I don't think you ever vill be," Robert told his son honestly.

"And vhy is zat?" Gru asked with just a touch of cynicism.

Robert knelt down next to his son and looked him in the eyes. "Ze reason for zat, son, is because you are not ze kind of person zat is villing to give up ven people tell zem otherwise. You're a hard-verking boy, and ven you vant to do something badly, you never give up. Zat is the kind of person who vill reach zeir dreams no matter vat happens. And you, my son, are exactly zat."

The smile that Gru gave his father could have lit up a dark room with its radiant light. "You're right, daddy. I von't ever give up! One day, I vill conquer ze moon, no matter vat people say!" He punched his fist into the air and looked up at the faint moon triumphantly. He was sure that one day, perhaps not tomorrow or the next day, but very soon nonetheless, he would be dancing across that foreign surface just like the very first astronauts had.

Robert gently brushed his hand against his son's shoulder. "Zat's my boy! Now, Felonius, I think ve should be going inside now. I think your mother's going to pounce on me if ve don't come in and eat dinner together as a family."

Gru shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think she'd be TOO mad. I mean, ven you aren't here, zere isn't even really a family to eat dinner vith."

"I'm sorry about zat, son. I'll try to come home more often, I really vill. I know how much it means to you," Robert reassured. Gru nodded and clutched his father's hand eagerly. Robert smiled back and stepped up slowly to the back door with his son, lingering purposefully in the backyard. Both father and son savored every step of the way, knowing that they wouldn't have many moments like this in the days and weeks to come.

...

Marlena changed channels impatiently, and the movie Gru had been watching a moment before with his mother that night changed abruptly to a screen full of gunshots and smoke. "….And the war doesn't look as if it's going to end happily for the Russians," the newscaster announced. Gru fidgeted in his seat, scanning the footage desperately for his father. He knew full well that if things continued the way they were going, there was a good chance that his father might not ever come home to him again.

"Mommy? Do you think zat Daddy vill come home again after zis war?" Gru asked in a plaintive voice. He looked at his mother worriedly, hoping that she would be able to provide some form of comfort for him.

Marlena's eyes were glued to the screen. She didn't answer her son's terrible question. Gru spoke again. "Mommy, do you think Daddy is going to be here next month after ze war is over?"

"Eh. Probably not," Marlena replied indifferently. She went back to her knitting, ignoring the tears in her son's eyes.

Gru was too afraid to ask what his father would be doing if he didn't return home when he was supposed to, so he turned his attention back to the screen again. The only thing that he was able to see were large, strapping men running around with vicious-looking guns, yelling at each other as though there was no tomorrow. Once more, Gru tried in vain to locate his dad, hoping to see him dart across the battlefield to relay some piece of vital information, but yet again the action on the screen prevented him from seeing anything but darting flashes of bloody violence.

Gru watched for so long that soon the screen blurred into a meaningless gray haze before his eyes. His head began to nod and his eyelids began to flutter shut. Gru jumped up and furiously rubbed his face, trying to stay awake. He didn't want to doze off if something really important happened-something that might make life a little better or a little more miserable if his father appeared to him on the television screen.

Marlena awkwardly scooted over on the sofa and put her arm on Gru's shoulder. "Don't vorry, Felonius. I'm sure it vill be all right in ze end," she said uncomfortably. Gru nodded but made no comment. Instead, he laid his head on his mother's shoulder and closed his eyes. He could feel her softly rubbing his back as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

The next thing Gru knew, his mother was leaping off the couch and screaming, "ROBERT! MY DARLING!"

Gru's eyes snapped open instantly. He sat up and started when he saw the bloody body lying silently on the battlefield. It took him a few shocked minutes to realize that it was his father. "DADDY! DADDY!" Gru screamed. He ran up to the television and pressed his hands to the screen, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Marlena grabbed her son by the arm and pulled him back down on the couch. "Felonius, sveetheart, you mustn't get so close to ze television screen like zat! You'll ruin your eyes!" she scolded.

"But…but…Daddy's been hurt!" Gru babbled helplessly.

Marlena squeezed his hand, unsure of what to say to her son. "Yes, yes, I know, Felonius. But zere's nothing ve can do for him. It's only a screen, after all."

Gru opened his mouth to say something, but only a monstrous sob escaped from his lips. Tears blinded his vision as he watched the medics place his father on a stretcher and carry him away. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Gru had always had a fear that one day his father might not return home from war, but he had never thought that it would actually come true until now.

Marlena cleared her throat and broke the silence pervading the family room. "Felonius….I'm not saying zis vill happen, but…" she trailed off uncertainly.

"Vat vill happen?" Gru sniffled. He cuddled up closer to his mother for assurance, but she brushed him off impatiently.

"Vell…zere is a small chance zat your father might not be dead after all," Marlena admitted.

"You mean…Daddy's still alive?" Gru asked hopefully.

Marlena nodded unconvincingly. "Yes, vell, I suppose zere is always ze chance that he just fainted, and if zat's ze case, zen ze medics vill be able to fix him up in no time. Of course, your daddy might come home vith a few scars, but…"

Gru didn't hear the rest of her words. He wanted to believe that his mother was right, but deep down inside he knew that his father wasn't going to live. He wiped the tears away from his eyes, trying to tell himself that he was being ridiculous. Surely the medics would be able to take care of him and make sure that he would live to return home to his family?

But all hopes of Robert's returning home alive were dashed as the newscaster announced, "There have been several casualties on the battlefield so far; mostly members of the Russian army. For those of you watching this broadcast, here is the list of those who have died…" The newscaster went on to list the victims of war. Gru's heart went cold when he caught his father's name in the midst of the list.

Gru thought he heard his mother trying to console him, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that his beloved father was dead and he would never come home to talk with him about going to the moon ever again.

…..

Gru woke up from his dream with tears welling in his eyes. He gulped hard, trying to keep himself from breaking down. He groggily rolled over in bed and checked the clock on his nightstand. The silent timepiece informed him that it was one o'clock in the morning.

"One o'clock in ze morning…" Gru whispered to himself. He quickly glanced over to see if Lucy was awake, but the pretty redheaded woman was still fast asleep in the bed they shared together. Gru carefully returned to his former sleeping position, making sure that he didn't wake his wife in the process.

Every year, without fail, Gru dreamed that very same dream on the anniversary of his father's death. Gru had lost so much on that fateful day-not only had he lost his father, but he had also lost his mother in a way as well.

It was at Robert Gru's funeral that Gru had noticed a peculiar change in his mother's behavior. Although it was always hard for her to express her love for her son, there were a few rare moments when her affection revealed itself. However, when Gru had looked to his mother for reassurance at the funeral, instead of finding a sympathetic gaze locked in a sheet of ice, he had found an utter lack of motherly love in Marlena's eyes. Instead, there was only loathing and disappointment, as if Gru had slain Robert with his own hand.

Gru wiped the tears away from his face. He settled back down in bed and closed his eyes. He lay still for several moments as he attempted to return to sleep again. It seemed like an eternity before he opened his eyes again, realizing with frustration that he still hadn't managed to doze off. He groaned, pulling the pillow over his head. He had the feeling that he was going to be a complete wreck when morning finally came around.

Gru felt as though several hours had passed before he began to feel a little tingling in the tips of his fingers. The tingling gradually spread from his fingers all the way down to his spidery legs. By the time the tingling reached his feet, Gru was out like a lightbulb.

"Daddy, wake up!" Agnes' cheerful voice screamed in his ear.

"If you don't get out of bed, Kevin and Phil are going to eat your breakfast!" Edith added.

"Come on, Dad…why were you asleep so long? You're not sick or anything, are you?" Margo questioned.

"Gurls, gurls, please….I had a leetle bit of trouble getting to sleep last night," Gru muttered. He pretended that the girls weren't there and made loud snoring noises to make them leave. He really wasn't in the mood for putting up with three loud, bouncy girls after having the most heartbreaking dream in his life last night.

"Dad, we know you're not really asleep," Margo said. Although Gru couldn't see his eldest daughter's face from under the pillow, he could just imagine her rolling her eyes at him.

"Who says I'm not?" Gru grunted. "I'm snoring, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but you've also pretended to be a recorded message before," Edith said.

"And you said you weren't home when that pretty lady asked if you were here!" Agnes inserted.

"All right, you got me zose times," Gru admitted weakly. "But ZIS time, I'm really sleeping. Good night! Go back to breakfast! See you in ze morning!" He pulled the covers over his head, trying to block out the daylight seeping through the windows. The combination of little sleep and his annual dream about his father were just too much for him to take, not to mention his three girls pestering him to get out of bed at the same time.

A familiar click-clack of high heels reached Gru's ears. He knew that Lucy had entered the room as well. A second later, her hyperactive, high-pitched voice reached his ears. "Gru? What are you doing in here? It's a beautiful day! C'mon, get out of bed, sweetie!" She grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him so vigorously that Gru could have sworn that he nearly broke his shoulder blade.

"Not for me," Gru complained, almost letting a hint of sobbing enter his voice.

Lucy stopped immediately when she heard Gru speak. She knew instinctively that the funny, faltering note in his voice meant something was off for him. "Gru, is something wrong? You're normally not so...GRUMPY in the morning like this. I mean, I heard that when you were a supervillain, you would leap out of bed, grab your freeze ray and POW-you'd frozen the whole neighborhood! Is it something the girls or I did? Because if so, then-"

"No, no, no, no, no! It's not anything like zat at ALL! It's just-"Gru trailed off. He didn't want to have to tell his family the reason for his reluctance to leave the comfort of his bed this morning. It was just too emotionally difficult for him to share in front of three little girls and a woman he'd only known for six months or so.

"Is it because of the Minions then?" Agnes piped up quietly.

Gru could tell by her voice that she was afraid that she had done something to upset him. He sighed and shook his head under the bedclothes. "No, it isn't because of ze Minions at all. It's…something very personal of mine. It's not really something I vant to tell you about at zis time…"

"Did you KILL someone when you were a supervillain?" Lucy asked with just a trace of curiosity.

"NO! Vhy vould I kill somebody? Zat's ze most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Gru protested.

"Yeah, I didn't think you were the killing type, but you can never be too sure," Lucy gibbered nervously. "Well…if you didn't kill anybody…did you hit a policeman then?"

"No," Gru vetoed.

"Did you kidnap someone?" Agnes asked.

"No, unless you count my adopting of you," Gru answered.

"Did you set someone on fire?" Edith exclaimed morbidly.

"People, no….Super Silly Funland games, yes. You know zat as vell as I do," Gru moaned. The questioning was getting to be a bit too crazy for him now. But at least it was better than telling his family the truth.

"Okay then…if you didn't kill someone, hit a policeman, kidnap people, or set a guy on fire, then what is it that you DID do that you think is so awful that you won't even tell your own family about it?" Margo demanded.

Gru poked the tip of his nose out of the sheets and looked at Margo with one frightened blue eye. Margo crossed her arms, keeping her steady gaze trained on him. "Come on, Dad. You can tell us. No matter how terrible it is, we promise we won't ever leave you."

"No, but I'm not telling you," Gru insisted, his voice cracking. "Can't you please just be good gurls for once and let me sleep in peace? You don't know vhat it's like to wake up at one in ze morning and not be able to fall back asleep again…"

"BEE-DO! BEE-DO! BEE-DO! BEE-DO! BEE-DO!"

"CARL!" Gru shouted. He threw the covers away from his head to reveal the shrieking Minion standing next to his bed guiltily, holding his megaphone while a string of flashing red lights glared brightly on his head. "I _told _you not to give me a wake-up call zis morning!"

_"Poparry," _Carl mumbled, looking sheepishly at the floor.

"Apology accepted. Now, please turn off your headlights and go back to breakfast," Gru said wearily. He looked at his wife and daughters, who were impatiently waiting for him to get out of bed.

"Please, Daddy?" Agnes asked.

Gru sighed. He knew that he'd been beaten. "All right. I'll come down to breakfast and eat vith you," he agreed.

"YAAYY!" Agnes, Edith, Margo, Lucy, and Carl cheered. They eagerly darted back to the kitchen while Gru exhaustedly dragged himself after them, still in his pajamas. He normally dressed before breakfast, but today he didn't feel that it was worth the effort, nor did he have the energy to even attempt to do so.

_"Para ti," _Phil announced as he handed Gru his breakfast plate.

"Thank you, Phil," Gru replied absently. He looked down at his eggs and bacon and began to pick halfheartedly at them. He tried to block the thought, but he couldn't help but think of how much his father had enjoyed the eggs and bacon his mother used to make on Sunday mornings.

Robert would stroll whistling into the kitchen, grab the newspaper, and read it cheerily while Marlena sang aloud and cooked in the kitchen. She'd waltz out with the plate, and she and Robert would share a quick peck on the cheek. Marlena would dance back into the kitchen while Robert ate his breakfast in his special, peculiar way: stabbing his eggs so that they wound up close to the flat part of the fork while he made sure to spear the bacon horizontally through the tines of the utensil.

As Gru's mind began to fill with memories of his father, tears began to well up along with his recollections of Robert. He swiftly gulped down a strip of bacon, willing it to push down the lump in his throat. Instead he almost choked on the bacon, prompting Carl to attempt the Heimlich maneuver on him.

"CARL! I am NOT choking! Ze bacon just vent down ze wrong way!" Gru snapped. Carl looked at him in shock and jumped down from the breakfast table. He opened his mouth to say something, but only a surprised _"Whaa?!" _came out. Lucy, the girls, Phil, and Kevin looked equally shocked.

"What was THAT all about? You NEVER yell at the Minions!" Edith blurted.

"Zat's true; I don't yell at zem. But zen again….today is not a normal day for me," Gru wavered. He picked at the eggs on his plate, wondering how long he would be able to avoid the inevitable explanation of his father's death.

As he stared into his food, he felt a tiny wet drop of something warm trail down his cheek like a line of rain skittering down a window. He gulped again, but another tear fell down his pale face to join its racing brother. It wasn't long before five tears had fallen from his face. The five tears were soon followed by ten, twelve, and twenty tears.

Lucy gently reached over the table and wiped Gru's tears off his face. "Felonius…look; I know that whatever you're thinking must be really hard for you to talk about. But I can't stand to see you cry like this. Please tell us what's wrong, Felonius. I'm sure it's not that bad…right?"

Gru jolted when he realized that Lucy had called him by his first name. Lucy only ever called him Felonius when something serious was going on and she needed him to speak to her. He shyly ducked from her touch and looked at Margo, Agnes, and Edith for support. To his surprise, they were patiently staring at him, as though waiting for him to spill the beans.

Agnes slowly walked up to Gru and placed the stuffed unicorn he had won for her at Super Silly Funland on his lap. She lifted her head to look him straight in the eyes. Her brown eyes seemed as though they were gazing into the depths of his heart. "Daddy…I love you. I don't want you to cry. You're such a nice daddy and you're always really good to us, like when you helped me win my unicorn at Super Silly Funland. I don't know why you're crying, but…if it helps you like you helped me…then I want you to tell us what's making you sad so you can feel better."

"Yeah, Dad. Agnes is right," Margo added. "You've done so much for us in the past year that I don't think you know sometimes how much you mean to us. I mean, if you hadn't adopted us, we'd still be selling cookies for Miss Hattie. And THAT wasn't fun at all, trust me."

"Yeah. I mean, even when you made us skip the rest of the houses that ordered cookies and wouldn't drive us to ballet practice, you were still a good dad…kinda," Edith shrugged. "I mean, you weren't as mean as Miss Hattie was…and the weapons in your house are totally awesome. So….I mean…like…I think if it makes it easier to eat your breakfast and everything…"

Phil and Kevin nodded in agreement. _"Papoy poppadom," _Kevin suggested.

Carl happily bee-doed in support. "BEE-DO! BEE-DO! BEE-DO!"

"All right, fine!" Gru harrumphed. "I can see zat I'm not going to get to eat my breakfast in peace if I don't tell all of you vhat it is zat's bothering me. But I should warn you…it isn't a very happy story. It might upset all of you, in fact. And not only vill it probably make you all cry….it vill probably make you hate me, because vhat I am about to tell you is how I became such a despicable villain in ze first place."

Agnes hesitated for a moment before she jumped up and sat in Gru's lap. "Does this story have a happy ending?" she asked innocently.

Gru thought for a moment before he answered, stroking Agnes' hair comfortingly. "Vell…I suppose so. Since ze story is about me and now I'm happy having you guys for my family…zen yes, zere IS a happy ending to this story."

Agnes smiled happily and clutched her unicorn in her arms. Edith looked over at Margo, but Margo just shrugged and sat down on the floor next to Gru. Edith copied her, staring at her father with wary eyes. Lucy sat down at the table across from Gru, propping herself up with her elbows. "So...how does this story begin?" she asked curiously.

Gru cleared his throat and blinked the tears out of his eyes before he spoke. "Vell, it begins a very long time ago….probably ven I vas no older than Edith is now."

"Awesome!" Edith cheered. As the middle child, she always felt particularly special when Gru or Lucy gave her extra attention. Margo raised her eyebrows at her sister, but Edith only stuck her tongue out at her.

Agnes looked up at Gru inquisitively. "Did you have hair back then?"

Gru blushed with embarrassment. "Vell, yes, of course I did. You didn't think I vas bald ven I vas leetle, did you?"

"No, I was just wondering," Agnes said. "What color was it? Was it like Mommy's hair?"

Gru shook his head, unable to stop himself from grinning. "No, my hair actually used to be black back ven I vas a kid."

"Just like my hair," Agnes breathed.

Gru nodded. "Just like yours."

"But if you used to have hair, then how come you don't have it anymore?" Agnes asked, a tiny frown curling her mouth down at the corners.

Gru blushed again. "Can ve talk about zis another time? I'm telling a different story right now."

Agnes nodded. "Okay. But what was it like back when you were a kid?"

Gru smiled and continued his story. "Back ven I vas a kid, humans walked on ze moon for ze very first time. Back in 1969, ven I vas nine years old, I watched ze first moon landing vith my mother. I thought it vas an incredible thing to be watching a man walking on a whole other planet. Zat vas ze day zat I knew zat ven I grew up, I vanted to walk on ze moon myself. And I didn't vant to just WALK on it-I vanted to conquer it and have it for my own."

"So that's why you stole the moon," Lucy gasped. Her eyes were wide and she was watching Gru's face like a panther, hanging on to every last word.

"Yes, but zere vas another reason too," Gru said sadly. He sniffled and paused to wipe a tear out of his eye.

"You were alive in 1969?! Wow, you're REALLY old," Edith interrupted.

"EDITH!" Margo scolded. She glared at her sister, who grinned wickedly back at her.

"Do you really think I'm ZAT old?" Gru said, blushing for the third time that day.

"I guess not," Edith shrugged. "But why did you become a villain anyway? I mean, if all you wanted to do was to walk on the moon…"

Gru closed his eyes in pain. He had to take several short breaths before he felt strong enough to continue his story. "Vell….for one thing, my mother never supported my dreams. She vas always afraid zat zey vould be crushed ven I grew up and I vould never be able to have a good life. On ze other hand, my father believed zat I vas a hard-verking person who vould be able to pursue his dreams no matter vhat. But unfortunately, ze only person vho I felt really cared about me and my passion vas killed on ze battlefield vhen he vas trying to relay a piece of information he had overheard from ze enemy on zis very day. And zat vas ze day zat I lost my entire family."

"But your mom didn't die," Agnes pointed out. There were tears sparkling in her eyes as she looked up at Gru with confusion and sadness.

Gru wiped the tears from her eyes and held her close. "No, she didn't. But it vas on ze day of my father's funeral zat she became ze coldhearted woman zat she is today. Ven I looked to her on zat day, hoping zat she would have something to say to help me through zat dark day, she looked at me like I vas ze one responsible for my father's death. She had always had trouble expressing her love for me, but I knew that from zat day on, there vould be no more hugs or kisses from her again.

And I vas right. I vas never able to talk to her about anything zat mattered, because she would always ignore vhatever I had to say. If I tried to show her something zat I'd made or something zat vas important to me, she vould act like it wasn't a big deal or make fun of me.

Because of her, I began to hate ze vorld for being so cruel to me. I hated my mother for abandoning me when I needed her ze most, I hated my father for dying and leaving me without a caring parent in ze vorld, I hated ze other kids zat I knew from school and in our neighborhood for bullying me, and I hated everyone who had ever treated me like a leetle freak or crushed my dreams. I didn't know zat I vould become a villain zen. All I knew vas zat I vanted to get back at ze vorld for taking away all of my parent's love for me and leaving me out in ze cold.

It vas only ven I saw a man rob a shopping mall with a ray gun zat I knew vhat I vanted to be ven I grew up. I vanted to be able to take vhatever I vanted and make everyone feel as miserable as I vas. I vanted to show people zat I wasn't a nobody, but zat I vas a somebody zat zey shouldn't mess with if zey knew vhat vas good for zem. I vanted to be able to use cool weapons to make people think_ I_ vas cool and to have people know who I vas all over ze vorld. But most of all, I vanted to make my mother notice me and be proud of my accomplishments for ze first time.

I vas probably in my early twenties ven I first became a supervillain. From zen on, I became feared and eventually rose up to be ze best supervillain in ze vorld. If I walked into a coffee shop and got fed up with ze long line-vell, everybody vould run away because zey knew I vould freeze-ray zem if zey didn't get out of my way. If I drove down ze street at a hundred and fifty miles an hour, nobody vould dare to stop me because zey knew zey vould get flattened if zey did. And if anyone happened to see me walking by, zey vould run out of my path because zey knew zat zere vas no way zey could mess with me and come out alive.

I shut out every leetle bit of compassion left in my heart and told myself zat it didn't matter if I stepped on a leetle boy's foot or stole a doughnut from ze bakery. All zat mattered vas zat everyone knew who I vas and zat zey vould never bully me again.

But zen I adopted you gurls…and I felt something zat I hadn't felt for a very long time."

"What was it?" Agnes asked.

Gru smiled and looked down at his daughters tenderly. "It vas a crazy leetle thing called love. It vas something zat I knew I shouldn't be feeling if I vas to be ze best supervillain in ze world, but I couldn't stop it. Vell…to be honest, I didn't exactly feel ze love at first."

"Yeah, we know," said Margo.

Gru chuckled. "At first, I vas wondering vhat on Earth I had gotten myself into. I thought it vould be easy to have a couple of gurls in ze house. Back zen, you gurls were just part of ze plan to steal ze moon. I didn't think zat I vould have to ride roller coasters with you or take you to ballet practice. I thought it vould be no different zen taking care of Kyle. But I vas wrong. It wasn't like having a dog at all. It vas even worse!"

Everyone laughed when they heard Gru's admission. It was hard to believe for all of them just how far Gru had come from his days of supervillainy to becoming the devoted family man he was today.

Gru continued with his story. "It wasn't until ze day zat I blew up ze carnival game at Super Silly Funland zat I realized just how much I liked you gurls. From zat day on, I started feeling things again. I realized zat I enjoyed making pancakes for breakfast and watching you gurls dance around ze house. It vas a pleasure to have tea parties and it vasn't a big deal if I accidentally wound up with a pink space suit vhen I did ze laundry. Suddenly, it seemed like stealing ze moon vasn't so important after all."

"But you abandoned us," Agnes said. She had only said four words, but the confusion and sadness that filled those words was enough to make Gru turn his head away in shame. He knew he couldn't tell the girls the truth about why he had given them back. How could he possibly tell them that it was Dr. Nefario's idea to begin with? The girls had come to view Nefario as a sort of grandpa. Gru knew that if he told them that Nefario was the one who had forced him to abandon them, they would probably never trust him or Nefario as much as they did now.

Lucy could tell that Gru was feeling uncomfortable and spoke up to change the subject. "So…when did you decide that you wanted to ask me out on a date? I mean, with your whole past with your mother and all…"

Gru shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to block out the tears filling his eyes. He gulped several times, but his voice still sounded hoarse when he spoke. "All I vill tell you about zat, Lucy, is zat I knew after a vhile-probably vhen you gave me ze first kiss I ever got from a girl in my whole entire life-zat you vere ze voman for me and zat I should try to ask you out on a date, no matter how painful it vas. But zere's something else I need to admit to ze gurls…something zat zey always thought vas my idea, but vasn't really vhat I vanted at ze time. And zat is….zat it vas Dr. Nefario's idea to get rid of zem, and zat I never vould have let him if I hadn't been convinced zat I should have gone to ze moon instead of to zeir dance recital."

Gru couldn't control his emotions any longer. He squinched up his eyes and let out a horrible sob of pain and regret. "I'm so sorry…but zat's all zere is for me to say. I understand if you all think I vas a horrible daddy, but…I didn't realize vhat you gurls meant to me at ze time. If somebody told me zat I vould wind up vith a vonderful family, I vould never have believed zem at ze time. Because of vhat happened vith my own mommy and daddy growing up, I didn't trust people anymore. Because nobody loved me, I vas afraid to love other people. I know now zat zat vas my mistake to get rid of you…but now zat you know who I vas in ze past, I hope you can forgive me for listening to my villain instincts instead of my…my heart."

Everyone was silent for a moment as they mulled over what Gru had said. It was difficult for them to see Gru so heartbroken and miserable about his past and his decisions as a father. In all the time Lucy and the girls had known Gru, they had never once seen him cry or display emotional outbursts like this one. It hurt them all to see him so sad, and it pained them to see that he felt he had been an awful father when in reality, he had done everything he could to give the orphan girls a better life for the most part.

Lucy quietly got up and walked around the table to rest her hand on Gru's shoulder. "Gru…I know all of this must be hard for you, but…if you ever need to talk about your past, or about your villain flashbacks, or anything else that's upsetting you…you can always talk to me. I won't judge you for anything, I promise. I know that you've had a lot happen to you in your life that wasn't very nice, but I can understand…because I haven't had a great life either."

"Y-you didn't?" Gru stammered in surprise. He had always thought of Lucy as a bubbly, energetic woman who was enthusiastic about everything she did. He would never have imagined that her past could possibly be just as painful as his was.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, well…I've had a lot of trouble with other men in the past. I've broken a lot of hearts, and it hasn't been easy for me. I've made a lot of mistakes that I've regretted…" She glanced at the girls, who were listening eagerly to the conversation. "Whoops! Guess I shouldn't be talking about that now, right?"

"Yes, you read my mind exactly," Gru replied with a sigh. He turned to the girls and quickly said, "Gurls….I know zat vasn't exactly an easy thing for you to hear about me, but…." He stopped halfway through his sentence and gulped, uncertain as to whether he would be able to say what needed to be said.

"But what?" Edith asked.

Gru gulped again and spoke once more with a serious tone. "But….do you think you gurls can forgive me, even though I've done all of zose things to you?"

The girls were silent for a moment as they thought over his words, looking at one another for support. Gru sat still, dreading the moment that they would speak. He knew he couldn't bear it if they weren't able to forgive him. They meant so much to him, and he wasn't sure if they would ever understand what an impact they had had on his life and who he was. If he had lost their trust forever, he knew their words would leave a sore spot on his heart that would never go away.

The girls slowly approached Gru with a confident look on their faces. Agnes stepped forward and said softly, "Daddy, I still love you. I'm sorry that your daddy died, but I'm not scared of you, because you saved us. No matter what, you will always be my daddy."

Margo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Dad. Agnes is right. Even if you were a bad guy, that doesn't mean we're not going to love you anymore. I wasn't sure at first if you were going to be a great dad. But because you came back for us, I knew that you really loved us. Just because you used to be a villain doesn't mean we don't love you anymore."

"Yeah, you're so awesome! I don't want you to leave us!" Edith exclaimed. She dashed across the carpet and grabbed Gru's leg so hard that his face almost turned blue.

"Okay, okay, I love you too, Edith," Gru spluttered. "But can you please stop pulling on my leg zere?"

Edith grinned and released Gru's leg from her viselike hold. "Sorry," she apologized.

Gru smiled somewhat sadly in reply. He was grateful for his family's support, but all their love couldn't make him forget the fact that today was still the day that his father had died.

Lucy noticed and gently squeezed Gru's hand. "Would it help if we lit a candle in your father's memory or went to his grave?" Lucy whispered to Gru.

Gru looked back at Lucy appreciatively. "I vould go to his grave if I could, but it's all ze way back in Russia...but as long as nobody sets anything on fire-"- Gru glanced at Edith as he said this-"-then I vould be happy to light a candle in Robert's memory."

The girls got up and followed their parents with the Minions as Gru and Lucy went to look for a candle. Although Gru's heart was heavy with mourning, when he looked around the room at his family, he realized how truly fortunate he was to have met them all. They had changed his life for the better and because of them, he was now a loving husband and devoted father.

None of that would have been possible if it hadn't been for the day he had seen them selling cookies to Vector. Because of that one little event, his whole life had been turned upside down. But he couldn't imagine it any other way. Even if he had suffered from his father's death and his mother's neglect, he knew he could stand up and conquer whatever other obstacles lay in his path because of all the love that filled his home now.

As Lucy lit the candle, Gru pulled his family close and thoughtfully gazed at the flickering flame. For the first time since his father had died, he no longer had to bear the pain alone. He had his family by his side, and they were willing to help him through his darkest day of the year no matter what.

And that was exactly what Gru had wanted.


	2. Where It All Began

**A/N: Hi everyone! This new chapter in my one-shot collection about Gru's past will be the first in a three-part one-shot about Gru's childhood, how he met the Minions, and the incident that led to becoming partners with Dr. Nefario. This first part describes Gru's childhood and an incident at high school that changed his life forever. The first part of the story takes place in the current time, and the part about what Gru did during the end of twelfth grade takes place in a flashback. Enjoy!**

* * *

Me, Myself, Dr. Nefario, and 10,400 Minions: Part 1, Where It All Began

Gru scowled angrily at the glaring headlights in front of him as he slammed his fist down on the horn as hard as he could. A thunderous sound blasted from his car, causing the other drivers to honk irritably. Gru smiled slyly to himself while he watched the windshield wipers swish away the raindrops on the windshield. He pressed his foot to the pedal and sped past the rude drivers, smashing a few windows and denting a few fenders in the process.

During an AVL meeting, Gru had loudly disagreed with Silas Ramsbottom and had gotten into an argument with him that had led to his punishment of having to stay up until midnight filing case reports. There were many things that Gru didn't like about Silas Ramsbottom and he often felt like tasering him, but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut when he was speaking to him. After all, if he lost his job, he wouldn't be able to support his family anymore.

Still, he couldn't believe that Silas Ramsbottom thought he and Lucy should use their lipstick tasers as torture devices. Although Gru loved to use his various weapons, he could never imagine using them to inflict pain on a suspect who might not even be guilty. He just had to speak up about it. Besides, weren't Silas' interrogation methods enough torture for any possible villain they captured?

Still, Silas had insisted on giving him the filing job, and Gru had had to stay up working late into the night for what seemed like forever. He had worried for the girls' safety, because although Dr. Nefario and the Minions were decent babysitters, he often feared that one day some horrible villain would break into his house and kidnap his daughters-or worse. Margo, Edith, and Agnes were the most important people in the world to him, and he knew he would never forgive himself if something happened to them.

Luckily, Lucy hadn't been punished by Silas, so she assured Gru that she would go home and look after the girls for him. Gru had been grateful to Lucy for her help and had even given her a tiny kiss on the cheek before she left, which Silas didn't seem to particularly appreciate. He couldn't imagine what he would have done if he had still been single.

In fact, he couldn't even imagine what he HAD done in a situation like this back before he had met Lucy. It was only when he had married her that he recognized how much he had had to do for the girls on his own. Because he noticed how hard Lucy worked just to provide for the girls, he remembered the times when he had had to do everything alone and realized how difficult it had been when he was a single dad.

Gru pushed his thoughts aside for a moment as he waited impatiently for the light to change. He hated waiting for long periods of time, and he hated obnoxious drivers even more. Having to wait forever and having horrendous drivers honking in front of him at the same time did absolutely nothing to alleviate Gru's mood. As soon as the light changed, Gru pressed his foot on the gas pedal as hard as he could. This action sent the car flying down the streets at a hundred and fifty miles an hour. Gru grinned wickedly to himself. As he always said, the speed limits were meant to be broken, and they were even more fun to break when he had three little girls and a loving wife anxiously awaiting his return.

All of a sudden, Gru's car made a loud grinding noise and screeched to a halt. "Oh, you got to be kidding vith me!" Gru cried out in frustration. He slammed the pedal once again, but the car still refused to budge. Gritting his teeth, Gru released his foot from the pedal and gently replaced it. The car made another grinding noise and let out a belch of smoke that covered Gru's face in soot. The disgusting smoke soon left him coughing. It was clear that something in his car had broken down. He would have to walk the rest of the way home in the pouring rain.

"Curses," Gru muttered to himself. He opened the door of the car, grabbing an umbrella to shield himself from the rain. Before he hopped out, he pressed a small red button on the dashboard of the car. Two mechanical arms loaded with missiles popped out from the sides of the car. Gru smiled and hopped out. There was no way that somebody would steal his car now when he walked home. He quickly locked the door with his keys. He took one last look around to make sure that nobody had seen him. Then Gru opened his umbrella and began the long trek back to his house.

About a third of the way home, a wicked wind billowed up out of nowhere. Gru clung to his umbrella valiantly, but the wind was insistent on ripping it right out of his hands. Gru dug his fingernails into the handle and scowled at the walk button on the traffic light pole. He slammed it as hard as he could. Like a charm, the little white walking man lit up on the sign across the street. Gru trotted eagerly down the crosswalk, beaming with pleasure. It wouldn't be long now before he was back with his family again.

However, before Gru was able to safely cross the street, a beat-up blue car skidded to a halt two inches too close to the crosswalk. The front of the car caught Gru in the behind. Gru tripped over his own feet and landed with an embarrassing thud face down on the sidewalk. As he fell, the umbrella was whisked out of his hands by the wind and turned inside out.

Gru got to his feet with a groan, rubbing his bruised face tenderly. He glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed his humiliating pratfall and blushed when he saw several pedestrians staring at him in shock. However, the mortifying moment was soon forgotten as he looked around angrily for the driver who had hit him.

The reckless driver was nowhere to be seen. However, Gru quickly spotted his inside-out umbrella lying in the middle of the street, about to be crushed. "My umbrella!" Gru exclaimed. He courageously made a dash into the traffic to retrieve it, but he was thrown backward once again by a hasty driver attempting to brake. He smacked into a stop sign with a bang and collapsed in a limp heap on the sidewalk.

For several moments, Gru saw stars dancing before his eyes and was not able to move. When he had recovered, he was able to get up just in time to see an old woman run over his poor umbrella. "Vell…I suppose zat's zat," Gru mumbled. He was going to have to walk the rest of the way without an umbrella, which meant that he was going to be absolutely soaked by the time he got home.

Glancing about shiftily, he saw a young man with a droopy mustache hurrying through the rain with a newspaper on his head. As he ran by, Gru snatched the newspaper off his head so fast that the man wasn't even aware of the theft. Gru held the paper over his bald head and continued on his way, unaware that the man he had robbed had noticed that his newspaper was gone and was staring at Gru in confusion.

Gru soon found out that a newspaper wasn't exactly the best cover-up for a gushing rainstorm. It wasn't long before the newspaper was completely soaked through. "You got to be pulling on my leg…both of zem," Gru grunted in frustration. He tossed the newspaper aside and made sure to stomp on it as he bared the rain without an umbrella.

Gru never thought too much about his appearance, but for once he was glad that he was bald so he wouldn't have to worry about having wet hair. He pulled his scarf more tightly around his neck and zipped up his jacket as high as the zipper could go, but they weren't enough to prevent him from getting utterly drenched. Gru had lived in Russia for most of his childhood, so he was used to cold, miserable weather. Still, he was secretly relieved that he was almost home so he could step into a warm shower and change out of his dripping clothes.

Before long, the neighborhood that Gru lived in with his family began to come into view. "Thank heaven, I'm almost zere," Gru sighed. By this point in time, he was shaking like a leaf from the icy rain that speared through his skin like tiny needles. All he really wanted was to grab a cup of hot chocolate and warm his freezing feet by the fireplace. Spurred on by the closeness of home and family, Gru began to jog towards his house, which loomed like a Gothic tower over the other, more innocent-looking homes in the neighborhood.

But before he was even five yards from his house, a menacing voice stopped him cold. "Give me your money. Don't try anything funny on me. Just hand it over, you fat old bird."

Steam shot out of Gru's ears at this effrontery. "I'm not _zat_ fat! And I am not going to give you any money, you rude leetle man," Gru glowered.

"Oh, but you will. You won't get out of here alive if you don't," threatened the mysterious voice. Gru flinched, but he silently opened his coat and drew his freeze ray from a secret pocket. Gru held his finger to the trigger just in case. He backed away from the robber into the glare of a street lamp. He wanted to see for himself just who this annoyingly bold thief thought he was.

The light shining down from the lamp revealed a shrimp of a man in a worn-out pair of shoes and a ragged trench coat. As soon as the thief saw that Gru was at least two feet taller than him and was pointing an intimidating weapon at his face, he immediately started to shake.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir; if I realized who you were, then I never would have tried to rob you-"the little man began to stammer. However, he never had a chance to finish his sentence. That was because Gru had fired his infamous freeze ray and frozen the shivering thief solid.

"FREEZE RAY!" Gru cackled with wicked delight. He continued to chuckle evilly to himself for several minutes, overcome with glee at his despicable act. It had been a long while since he'd done something so…villainy. For a few moments, he felt the same rush that he used to get back in the old days when he'd freeze people in the coffee line or when he'd steal some semi-famous monument or gadget.

His moment of evil didn't last very long, however. In the next moment, he heard the clack of high heels on the sidewalk and saw a thin arm brandishing a lipstick taser right next to him. "LIPSTICK TASER!" Lucy's voice exclaimed with a bit more vengeance than usual. A strong electric current zapped the frozen thief, causing strange waves of electricity to surge around him. In a few short moments, the ice had cracked and the thief had fallen to the ground with a thunk. He was flat on his back, dazed and completely drenched with melted ice water.

"Lucy?" Gru murmured in disbelief. He turned around to see his wife standing sheepishly beside him, holding her lipstick taser in her neatly manicured hand.

"I'm sorry, Gru, but I saw that little guy cornering you on the street and thought that you might need help," Lucy explained.

"Vell, I think zat HE vas ze one who needed help," Gru smirked.

"Yeah, you really showed him, Gru," Lucy giggled. After she finished laughing, she added in a more serious tone, "It's just-I thought he beat you up because you had a huge bump on your head and your face was bruised…"

Gru swiftly put a hand on his head and realized that Lucy was right-he really did have a ginormous lump. He groaned as he recalled all of the horrible things that had happened to him before he had freeze rayed the thief. No wonder Lucy thought that the man had attacked him. At this rate, he was grateful that he hadn't lost a leg yet.

"No, but it's a long story," Gru sighed. "Vhen I vas driving home from verk, ze car broke down and it spit smoke all over my face, so I had to valk back home. But zen I got hit in ze behind by a car on ze crosswalk and my umbrella got blown into ze road. So I tried to get it back and zen I got knocked into a stop sign, but ze umbrella got run over, so…"

"…You had to walk back home in the rain without it," Lucy finished. Gru gave her a funny look. She blushed redder than a tomato in response. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. I can't believe all of that happened to you, you poor thing. Well, I guess we'd better walk back so you don't get sick, huh?"

"You read my mind exactly," Gru admitted. He bashfully slipped his hand into Lucy's, and together they walked the rest of the way back to the Gru family home. Inviting yellow lights glowed softly in the windows as they walked up the driveway and stopped before the door. Almost unconsciously, as though they had read each other's minds, Gru and Lucy knocked on the door simultaneously.

Kyle's noisy barking greeted them as a rather harassed-looking Dr. Nefario yanked open the door. The thin, wispy white strands of hair remaining on his head were askew and his face was covered with soot, as though something had suddenly exploded on him. His disheveled appearance, combined with his droopy posture and frowning face, made it clear that Nefario had had an experiment backfire disastrously on him in the lab.

"Gru, what on Earth have you been doing? You should have come back hours ago!" Dr. Nefario burst out in exasperation.

"I-I'm sorry, Dr. Nefario, but I had to do some filing for Sheepsbutt and zen ze car broke down…" Gru paused halfway through his sentence and slapped his forehead. "Oh, I can't believe zat! I left ze car locked out in ze rain vith active missiles sticking out ze sides! Vhat if somebody's already stolen it?" he groaned.

"If I were you, Gru, I'd be more concerned about the POLICE seeing it," Nefario scolded. "What if they arrested you? We'd have to bail you out! And let's face it; we barely even have enough money to keep us going in the first place."

"No, no, it's not ZAT bad yet," Gru spluttered awkwardly. He absentmindedly wrung out his scarf as he spoke. It wasn't until Lucy gasped in shock that Gru looked down at his feet. A huge puddle of rainwater was spreading out and soaking the carpet below him. He hesitantly took another step into the house, causing even more water to drip onto the floor.

"L-look, I'm sorry-"Gru began to apologize.

Nefario cut him off with a brusque wave of his hand. "It's all right, Gru. Just tell me where exactly you parked your car so I can fix it."

"I-I think it vas parked on South Avenue somewhere near a coffee shop," Gru admitted. Dr. Nefario raised an eyebrow but did not comment. Instead, he shuffled back into the house to get an umbrella and a raincoat so he could brave the rain in order to fix Gru's vehicle.

"Uhh…Gru? I think you're making a lake in here," Lucy giggled, pointing once again at the sopping-wet carpet. "You might want to change into something a little…drier."

"Okay, I get it, I'm destroying ze rug!" Gru harrumphed. "I'll go change into something and zen I'm going to bed, because otherwise I'm probably going to be doing a lot of freeze-raying in ze morning."

"Okay then," Lucy nodded in agreement. Gru gave her an exhausted smile before he trudged over to his bedroom to change out of his soggy outfit. He quickly slipped out of his clothes and dropped them in a messy heap on the floor before he changed into his pajamas. Gathering the clothing in his arms, Gru walked to the washing machine and tossed everything in.

He was just about to mop up the mess he had made at the door when he accidentally bumped into Lucy.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Lucy; I didn't see you there," Gru apologized in a startled voice.

"It's okay, Gru; I should have looked where I was going in the first place," Lucy said. She glanced at the clock, seemingly distracted by something. Before Gru could ask her what she was thinking, however, she told him exactly what was on her mind. "Look, I know it's really late, but…do you want me to make you tea or hot chocolate or anything before you go to bed? You look like you could use it after walking all the way back to our house in the rain."

"No, no, it doesn't matter; I just want to go to bed, really," Gru mumbled sleepily. He covered his mouth as a huge yawn escaped him.

Lucy could see that her husband really was exhausted, but there was something she wanted to ask him about before he went to bed. When she had been barreling outside with her lipstick taser to help him fight off the stranger that had attempted to rob her husband, she had seen a side of Gru that she'd never known about before. When Gru had freeze rayed the stranger, he seemed to be overcome with wicked delight and had laughed in a very strange way. It was almost as if Gru had taken pleasure from the fact that he was committing an act of evil.

Although she knew about Gru's checkered past as a supervillain, she had never actually seen him in action before tonight. It was something about him that intrigued her, but she was also afraid of this dark side of Gru. Whether she loved or feared this hidden part of Gru, Lucy still couldn't help wanting to know just a tiny bit more about his past.

"Gru, I know you really want to go to sleep, but…there's something I want to ask you about," Lucy spoke up.

Gru sighed and slouched in defeat. He had the feeling that he was going to be up until one in the morning explaining to Lucy about whatever it was that she was wondering about him. "Okay, but you better not be pulling on my leg," Gru grunted.

Lucy flashed her husband a charming grin. "Okay! This will be so fun! I'll go make some tea and then we can talk," she agreed before dashing off to the kitchen. Gru followed her reluctantly and flopped into a booth at the kitchen table. Lucy immediately began making the tea, humming happily to herself as she dropped the tea bag into the pot.

While Gru watched Lucy brew the tea, he tried to figure out what it was that she wanted to ask him. Had she seen the iron maiden in his house and worried that it was too dangerous to have in a home with three little girls? Or had she perhaps found out something about his past that made her distrust him? Whatever it was, Gru wasn't particularly looking forward to discovering what question she had to ask him.

Lucy placed a cup of tea in front of him and plopped down in the seat next to him, breaking his reverie. "So…Gru…" Lucy began. She took a deep breath and sipped some tea before she continued. "I just wanted to ask…I saw you laughing when you freeze rayed that thief, and I've never seen you do anything like that before. I know you were a supervillain and you stole the moon and everything…but I wanted to ask….how did all this start?"

"How did all of VHAT start?" Gru echoed, pretending he didn't understand. He picked up his tea and took a sip of it, trying not to show his unease at Lucy's questioning. He hadn't really told anybody his past in full, and he didn't know how Lucy would react to it. Would his past plant fear and distrust inside her, or would she accept the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of him?

Gru looked at Lucy for reassurance, but she merely returned his steady gaze. Whether he liked it or not, Lucy wanted answers and Gru would have to give them. He sighed deeply and stared into his tea, too afraid to look his wife in the eye. "All right zen, I'll tell you all about my past. But it isn't a pretty one….and more likely zan not, it vill involve very painful flashbacks for me."

Lucy held Gru's hand and squeezed it tenderly. "Don't worry. I'll be here for you, no matter what," she promised.

Gru gave her a grateful smile, cleared his throat, and began to tell his story. "Okay. Vell, it all starts a very long time ago, back vhen I vas ten years old in 1970. That vas ze year zat my father, who vas a spy for ze Russian army, died on ze battlefield. On zat year, everything turned upside down. My mother vas so hurt by my father's death zat she completely froze me out. All she cared about vas making sure ve both stayed alive somehow and trying to get over ze death of my daddy.

Unfortunately, my mother vasn't able to support our leetle family in Russia, so ve snuck out of ze country to find a new life in America. Ve sort of had to sneak past ze officials because zey denied our passports...vell, my mother vas good at karate, so she knocked out ze people who wouldn't let us pass in ze airport. After zat….ve moved around a bit until my mother found a job teaching karate in Albuquerque.

It vasn't exactly ze place ve vanted to be, but it verked, except for ze fact zat I vas bullied in school. Everybody thought zat I vas a leetle freak and zey stayed away from me because zey thought zat since I vas a Russian, me and my family were Communists. Zey didn't exactly know vhat zat meant until high school, but zey heard zeir parents talking about it and knew it vas bad. So zey thought zat since I vas Russian, I must be bad too.

Because of zat, zey all avoided me at school. Nobody vanted to be my friend, and if zey did, I couldn't even tell zem zat I wanted to be friends back because I didn't know any English. I had to learn it from scratch, and my accent vas thicker back zen, so it vas hard for anybody to understand me.

I hoped zat things vould get better for me, but zey never did. Zey just kept getting worse. I vas bullied, teased, shunned, and even beat up. I never DID anything to make people vant to treat me zis vay, but because I vas different and I vas struggling to learn English, everyone decided zat I vas a freak. I couldn't even talk to anyone about my problems, because my mother hated me and I had no friends at all. I didn't even have a dog because my mother had a hard enough time just trying to feed ze two of us.

But it vasn't until ze last week of twelfth grade zat everything changed…." Gru suddenly shut his eyes and clutched his tea mug tightly. He could feel a painful flashback coming like a tidal wave. He groaned in anguish and prayed silently for it to end as quickly as possible.

"Gru! What's wrong? Are you okay?" Lucy called faintly somewhere far away from where Gru was. He wanted to tell her that he was okay, but he couldn't. There was something about this flashback that was different from the others. Usually, they happened at inconvenient times, caused a brief flash of pain, and disappeared as swiftly as a bad dream. This flashback was something far more powerful than that. It seemed as if some strange force had grabbed onto him and trapped him inside its deadly iron grip.

The last thing that Gru heard was Lucy running across the floor, screaming Dr. Nefario's name and calling for help. Then he fell into the chasm the flashback sucked him into and fell forward with a sickening thud.

…

Eighteen-year-old Felonius Gru slammed his foot down on the pedal of his new car as he pulled to a stop in front of Albuquerque High. Although he hadn't been going particularly fast, he still managed to break three windows and ding four cars before he sputtered to a stop in the parking lot.

"Zat's a new record for me," Gru frowned as he grabbed his midnight-black satchel and hopped out of the car. He made sure to lock it tightly before he started the arduous trek up to the entrance of the dreaded high school.

The walk wasn't a particularly long or difficult one, but for Gru it was even more difficult than scaling a mountain. High school had been a terrible experience for him ever since his freshman days because of the cattiness and exclusion that the other students had shown him.

He never understood WHY everybody hated him. He'd never really done anything horrible enough to cause their hostility towards him. Was it the fact that he always dressed in black? They didn't know how horrible bright colors looked on him. Was it because he tended to keep to himself? Well, it was THEIR fault that nobody talked to him between classes, since they'd turned their noses up at him since the first day of high school. Or could it be that perhaps that he was just a tiny bit _different _from them that made them loathe him so badly?

Well, if that was how they were going to treat him, he was going to snub them right back. Gru patted the lump stuffed into his bag to reassure himself. He'd found an old gun that his father had used as a spy in the attic and altered it slightly so that it shot out rays of freezing cold material instead of bullets. He'd tested it several times on both living and non-living objects to make sure it was relatively harmless before deciding to bring it to school. After all, the last thing he wanted was to get expelled for harming another student. He tried so hard to get good grades despite all of the suffering he faced every day, and he knew his mother would throw a fit if he was kicked out before graduation.

Gru walked through the doors and into the halls of his high school. He glanced at a clock in the hall and gasped with shock when he realized that if he didn't hurry, he would be late for English class. He immediately broke into a run that would have won him a trophy if he'd been at a track meet. He puffed and panted as he furiously struggled to win the race against the clock, which ticked as slowly and painfully as the hand of fate. The other students wandering the halls gave him strange stares as he barreled past them, but he didn't have time to worry about what people thought of him. The only thing that mattered was making it to class on time.

Eventually, the door of the English classroom came into sight. "Thank goodness, I made it!" Gru panted. He opened the door and leaped into the classroom just as the bell rang throughout the school.

As Gru slowly recovered from the run, he turned around to face the rest of the class. He realized that everyone, including the teacher, was giving him a strange look. Gru blushed in embarrassment and turned back to the teacher. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Hartfield, but I-"Gru started to apologize.

Mrs. Hartfield gave him a withering look that could have shriveled a rose bush. "Just sit down, Felonius," she snapped. "And next time, try not to break the speed limit when you're late to class."

"I…I'm _late_?" Gru asked incredulously. Mrs. Hartfield's glare was enough to tell Gru that he hadn't made it on time after all. Everyone in the classroom burst out laughing as Gru slouched in embarrassment. Blushing like a sunburned tomato, Gru slunk back to his seat and slid down dismally in his chair. He knew what was coming when the day started out like this. There would be droning lectures, scolding, teasing, and utter misery for the rest of the day, and he'd never be able to escape it.

But then he remembered the new weapon stuffed in his bag. An evil grin spread across his face as he imagined just what he could do to the bullies with it. No more would he be the picked-on runt of the school-he'd be a somebody, and everybody had better watch out if they knew what was good for them.

A girl sitting behind him shoved Gru irritably in the back. "You're weird, you know that?" she hissed in his ear.

Gru merely turned to her and gave her a stare that caused her to shut up and slump back in her chair. As soon as Gru had turned back around, however, he could hear the other students behind him whispering horrible things. Normally, he would have been bothered, but today he knew that they would be the victims for once. All he had to do was find the perfect time to enact his revenge, and the world would be his.

…..

Gru quickly pulled on his gym shorts and laced up his running sneakers as he prepared for gym class in the locker room. He glanced around to make sure that nobody was looking at him and found much to his chagrin that all the other boys in the locker room were glaring at him. Gru blushed and hurried to the door, trying to ignore them and hide his awkwardness. Changing had always made Gru feel vulnerable, since he didn't like other people to see his skinny legs and glimpse him briefly in his smiley-face underwear. But it was a part of high school, and he had to put up with it no matter how mortifying it was for him.

He was only three feet from the door when he heard a menacing voice behind him that stopped him cold. "Think you're better than us because you're Russian, huh, stick-legs?"

Gru whipped around to see a blond teenage boy with freckles smiling nastily at him. He recognized the boy immediately and flinched with shock. It was Alexander Felix, a student who had cruelly bullied him ever since the first day of high school. And it wasn't just Alex who was teasing him-all of his horrible friends ganged up on Gru as well and seemed intent on making his life as miserable as possible.

Instead of turning away or yelling at Alex as he usually did, Gru calmly reached into his locker and prepared to freeze the bully solid. But before he could do that, Alex boldly strode up to him and shoved him in the chest. The rest of the students snickered as Alex's friends slowly surrounded Gru, who was struggling to his feet.

"I-I'm not cooler zen you! And you aren't zat cool either!" Gru snapped back. He realized what a grave mistake he'd made when Alex's eyes narrowed viciously. He made a signal to the other boys surrounding him, and faster than Gru could possibly have believed, the bullies shoved him into the locker and slammed the door shut on him.

Gru gasped for air as he frantically attempted to open the door. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge. He took a deep breath, leaned his shoulders up against the door, and pressed against it with all of his might. He heard a bang outside and what sounded like a body hitting the floor. The next things he heard were a bunch of swearing and voices muttering about how a darned jerk could be so strong. He realized that he must have shoved Alex and his friends to the floor when he nudged the door with his shoulders.

He gulped as the footsteps of the other students became fainter and fainter. He knew that he was alone now in the locker room. He screamed and screamed as loud as he could for help, but nobody answered his pleas. He panicked as he realized that there was no way to escape the locker.

Suddenly, an idea of possible escape entered his mind. He might be able to punch the door open, but then he'd be late for class and would probably get detention later in the day. Still, detention would be better than slowly suffocating to death in the cramped locker. Grabbing his freeze ray with his left hand, Gru gradually raised his right hand and prepared to hit the door of the locker as hard as he could. He balled his hand into a fist, aimed, and slammed the door with all the force he was capable of.

The door flew open with a bang and hit a student wearing gym shorts right smack dab in the face. "Sorry," Gru muttered as he stepped over the groaning student and ran as fast as he could to the track. By the time he got there, he was puffing and dripping with sweat. The other students glared back as he screeched to a stop and attempted to catch his breath. Gru looked at the teacher apologetically, but she merely shook her head and sighed in defeat.

Gru began to jog around the track, trying to keep up with the other students. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the brawny leg sticking out in front of him. He tripped and faceplanted on the ground with a humiliating thud.

Rubbing his bruised face tenderly, Gru looked up to see Alex standing over him with a sneer. "Guess you're pretty slow for a Russian, huh?" Alex snickered cruelly. As if that wasn't bad enough, all the other students within earshot began laughing hysterically.

Gru swiftly leapt to his feet, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing. "And YOU'RE pretty cold for a bully," Gru smiled deviously. He'd finally found the perfect moment to use his new freeze ray. He stuck his hand in his pocket and prepared to freeze Alex solid.

"What's that supposed to mean? You're trying to make me look bad, aren't you?" Alex asked nastily. Gru whipped out his freeze ray and pointed it directly at Alex's face in reply. He took a moment to savor the horrified look on Alex's face before pulling the trigger and freezing the bully in a solid block of ice.

The other runners on the track stopped dead in their tracks and whipped around to face Gru. Gru grinned as he took in the shocked looks on their faces. It was clear that he was the one in charge now. He'd finally gotten revenge on Alex and shown everybody who he really was. And he was a person that they shouldn't mess with if they knew what was good for them.

Gru was so busy reveling in his victory that he didn't notice the teacher and the policemen walking up behind him until it was too late. It wasn't until a hand was placed on his shoulder that he realized that someone was watching him. Horrified, Gru turned around to face his furious teacher and two strapping policemen.

"I-I didn't….it vas an accident….and I didn't hurt him!" Gru stammered as he tried to escape from the hand of the policeman on his shoulder.

"I'm sure it was. You can tell us all about the incident and that WEAPON of yours at the police station," snarled the officer as he clapped a pair of handcuffs onto Gru's wrists and led him towards the police car.

Gru struggled to break free, but the policemen held him back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Resistance will only give you a longer jail sentence," warned the other officer. At this, Gru went silent and dutifully followed the policemen to their car, which was parked at the side of the road that went past Albuquerque High. To Gru's surprise, his mother, Marlena, was waiting by the car for him.

"M-Mom? How did you know zat I freeze rayed Alex in gym class?" Gru stammered in surprise. He hadn't expected the news of his wicked act to travel so quickly.

Marlena nodded, disappointment shining in her icy eyes. "Son…I am very disappointed in you. How could you do zis to me?" Marlena demanded angrily.

Gru hung his head and gulped, trying to hold back the tears of fear that were welling in his eyes. "I…I vanted to get back at ze bullies, so I found zat old gun of Dad's and turned it into a freeze ray," Gru explained ashamedly. "I didn't hurt Alex, but I just vanted to get back at him. But I didn't know zat ze teacher vas watching, and zen ze police arrested me…"

"Felonius…we're going to have a very serious talk vhen all of zis is over," Marlena replied coldly as she got into the police car. "But in ze meantime…try not to resist ze police and make sure you answer all ze questions that zey ask you honestly."

"I vill, Mom," Gru replied miserably. He looked out the window and sobbed with despair as the police sped away from the school with their sirens flashing like beacons of hopelessness.

….

"Gru! Wake up! Gru, are you okay? Talk to me, sweetie!"

Gru moaned in pain as the voice of Lucy echoed like sonar in his aching head. His heart and head pounded in unison, making it difficult for him to even consider moving. He tried to lift his head, but it was far too heavy. He flopped back down and remained still for several moments as he recovered from the horrible flashback. Never before had he had such an intense or vivid flashback. No wonder it made him faint. He fervently hoped that he would never have another one like this again anytime soon.

Another voice cut into his head, interrupting his sluggish thoughts. "Gru! It's me, Dr. Nefario! Can you hear me?" Gru felt a hand urgently shaking his shoulder. "Gru, I really hope I don't have to use the fart gun on you this time…"

Startled by this thought, Gru jolted and managed to crack open one weary eyelid. Through his blurry vision, he saw Lucy and Dr. Nefario leaning over him with worried looks on their faces. "Couldn't you have let me sleep just a leetle longer?" Gru protested sleepily.

"But Gru, you weren't sleeping! You-you passed out!" Lucy faltered. "Oh, Gru, I can't tell you how scared I was when you fell down and knocked the tea off the table…I thought I was going to have to take you to the hospital!"

"Vhat tea? I don't remember drinking any tea," Gru mumbled in confusion. He blinked a few times and tried to sit up, but an attack of dizziness forced him to remain still. His eyes wandered aimlessly around the room until something on the floor caught his attention. Scattered pieces of shattered white plastic were lying in a pool of brownish fluid.

Gru sighed when he realized that he was looking at the remains of his cup of tea from earlier. "I'm sorry about zat, Lucy. I didn't mean to break ze cup-I just had a really bad flashback and couldn't stop myself from falling," he apologized.

"Wow, that was some flashback then," Lucy replied playfully. "I mean, I've seen you get flashbacks before, but I never thought you were the fainting kind of guy."

Gru blushed in embarrassment at Lucy's comment. "I-I don't faint! It vas just zis one time, zat's all," he protested. He covered his mouth as a loud yawn escaped from him. "I-I'm just really tired, zat's all. I-I need to go to bed."

"You have every right to be tired at one o'clock in the morning, Gru," Dr. Nefario reassured him.

Gru stared at Dr. Nefario in utter shock. "V-vhat! I-I've been out for an HOUR?!" he stuttered incredulously.

Dr. Nefario nodded. "Yes, and we've been trying to wake you up that long," he sighed. "Oh, and before I forget, I managed to fix your car in the rain, but it only went three miles before it broke down again. I had to walk home and then Lucy told me that you fainted...so I forgot to bring the car back."

"Vonderful," Gru groaned sarcastically as he slapped his forehead. When he saw Dr. Nefario's venomous look, he quickly added, "Vell, I suppose I can always go to look for it in ze morning. Good night, everybody!" Without another word, he trotted up the staircase, brushed his teeth, and flopped exhaustedly into bed.

Lucy plopped down next to him and gently touched his arm. "So, Gru…what was it that happened in twelfth grade that changed everything?" she whispered.

Gru started in shock and stared at Lucy as though she had gone insane. "Ummm…you were telling me about how everyone was mean to you when you were growing up, and then you were saying that something happened in twelfth grade that changed everything before you passed out," Lucy reminded him.

"Oh yes, I vas," Gru recalled. "Ze thing zat happened in twelfth grade vas zat I turned my dad's old gun from ze Russian army into ze freeze ray and froze zis horrible bully called Alexander Felix on ze track in gym class. But zen I got arrested by ze police after zat and my disappointed mother had to go to ze police station vith me."

Lucy gasped with surprise. "Did you get put in prison?"

Gru shook his head. "No, zey didn't because my mother begged and pleaded vith zem to let me go. Ze high school didn't exactly vant me back, but…vell, my mother is very good at persuading people to do things zat she vants zem to do. But after zat day, everybody vas afraid of me…and I liked zat. I liked zat I vas ze one in control. I liked zat zey didn't bully me ever again because zey know zat I vould freeze ray zem if zey did. I vanted more of zat vonderful feeling, and eventually I found zat being a supervillain gave me zat feeling."

Lucy paused for a moment as she took in everything that Gru had said. "Wow…that's incredible. I had no idea that you had such a hard life back then. I guess that explains why you were a villain before you adopted the girls." Then she smiled slyly, put her elbows on Gru's chest, and stared eagerly into his blue eyes. "But now that we're here, you don't feel that way anymore, do you?"

"N-no, I don't," Gru spluttered in confusion. He hastily shoved Lucy off his chest, but she just snuggled up to him in bed and wrapped her arms around him. He looked helplessly at Lucy, but she just gave him a flirty wink and snuggled even closer. Gru sighed in defeat and wrapped his arms around her in return. He was still getting used to the whole touchy-feely thing, and Lucy would always find a way to cuddle him no matter how hard he tried to get away from her.

"So…what did you do after you graduated from high school?" Lucy asked, interrupting Gru's train of thought.

"I packed my bags and vent to New York as soon as I could," Gru explained grumpily. "I didn't really like Albuquerque in ze first place. Ze coffee zere vas horrible, for one thing."

Lucy laughed and held Gru even closer. "So you're a New Yorker, huh?" she teased, eyes sparkling with curiosity. "What was it like living in New York then?"

Gru groaned. He didn't want to spend all night telling Lucy his life story, especially when he was so exhausted. "Don't push ze issue. I'm exhausted, and it's too late to talk about New York anyway," he grunted.

Lucy nodded, released Gru from the bear hug, and slid back into her normal sleeping position in bed. "Okay then. Good night, Gru. See you in the morning," she said softly.

"Same to you too, Lucy," Gru replied. He closed his heavy eyelids and immediately sank into a deep sleep. There would be more to tell Lucy in the morning, but for now he was content to doze, knowing that there wouldn't be any more flashbacks to disrupt his slumber.


End file.
